James Derkits

Originally published in the South Jetty "The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, 'See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way..." So begins Mark's gospel (1:1-2), and soon Jesus is coming up out of the water from John's Baptism, off to a wilderness of temptation until he gets clear about his calling as the Messiah. No nativity with Mary and Joseph as in Luke and Matthew; no "In the beginning was the Word..." as in John. For Mark there is an urgency to Jesus' life and ministry so we get right to it, no messing around with a birth story or the beginning of creation. A quick quote from Isaiah, and away we go. This is a fast moving gospel that uses the word "immediately" again and again to stress a quick pace: There is a message to be shared. The feel of Mark's gospel seems, at first, to match the feel of our world today. We are two steps ahead o...

I want to give thanks, in this Christmas Season--a Season of God Incarnate, for all the volunteers in this town who give from their hearts all year round. I am continually amazed at how much people give of their time, talent, and treasure to support one another in Port Aransas.  The miracle of Jesus birth, that should blow your mind when you try to think about, it is that God was born into God's own creation. We do not worship a God that is far off, but one that is right here among us, between us, and within us. That's what we call the Incarnation: God enfleshed. God is not sitting high and away from things, but right here amongst us, in the thick of it. God volunteered to move among us and Jesus gave of himself his whole life long, culminating on the cross, and in his Resurrection. He volunteered to give of his love so that all might know the love of God, even if we have lost our way from that Love.  I suppose it should not be too surprising if we know the whole story...

Originally Published in the South Jetty "O Come thou Wisdom from on high, who orderest all things mightily; to us the path of knowledge show, and teach us in her ways to go." (Hymn from the 9th Century)  Throughout the season of Advent, we will sing through all eight verses of "O Come Emmanuel," until we, at last receive the gift of God-with-us. St. John's Gospel calls it Logos: the Word. It is the ordering principle of the universe. It is Sophia, the Holy Wisdom who was there in the beginning of creation with God. She who dwelt with God and moved through prophets through the ages and in the fullness of time is birthed through Blessed St. Mary in the person of Jesus Christ. Emmanuel means "God-with-us" and that is what we pray for through the song. Week by week, we wait and watch for God who "orderest all things" in the beginning to come dwell among us to order the chaotic corners of our lives and our world.  We also pray that wh...

The first week of Advent brought the celebration of 6 years of St. Mark's Between-the-Bayous, and a farewell to the weekly worship life of that community. As I wrote on their Facebook event for that celebration, the life of that church shaped me and my ministry, it taught me to be out in the community. I couldn't be at that particular celebration because Trinity by the Sea was doing a labyrinth on the beach. I probably should have written and posted this blog last week, before the big celebration, but this week will have to do. After meeting for about 6 months for conversation, planning, searching for a place to meet, St. Mark's Between the Bayous had it's first night of Eucharistic worship at Block 7, a wine bar and restaurant near the intersection of Washington Ave and Shepherd St in Houston, TX. Pittman McGehee, Sr. was a big part of those early conversations, and his book the Invisible Church remains an important text in my learning about spirituality. We imag...

I've just about O.D.'d on news in the last couple of days. I watched Tuesday night (Wednesday morning) until Donald Trump made his acceptance speech. I watched PBS because they make an effort to get a variety of voices and perspectives in the conversation. I was personally surprised that we elected Trump as president of our country. I saw a couple of the debates, but didn't see any of the political ads. Watching a celebrity and reality TV star rise to the White House seemed surreal to me, yet, here we are. It's our reality.  I'm reminded of advice from a couple of my mentors over the years as I listen to people who are excited about the outcome, and people who are devastated by the outcome. During seminary our small group was struggling with something, and one of my professors, Kate Sonderegger asked us, "What is the spiritual learning?" I resisted that question. I just wanted to be upset by whatever I was facing. I wanted to lash out, not seek meaning....

Originally Published in the Port Aransas South Jetty Newspaper Remember Quirinius? He was so powerful in his day; Governor of Syria during the first Census under Emperor Augustus. And surely you remember Augustus! The Emperors were like gods in their day. The most powerful, the highest office, the eyes of the world were on them. It was into that context, with all eyes on Rome, God was born in Jesus Christ. His birth was not really even noticed by anyone outside his family, at the time. Except for a few foreign Magi who were paying close attention. But that's in Matthew's Gospel, and Quirinius is in Luke's. St. Luke seems to offer the governor's name as a time stamp, or to point out that things that seemed to be really important in their time were happening, but the focus of the Gospel moves far away from Augustus and Quirinius, and even past Jerusalem. The attention is on the Good News happening in Bethlehem, where something earth shaking was taking place. Somethin...

Just a quick note about my quick trip to Camp Capers. It was good to catch up with fellow clergy, hear from our Bishops, and to be in such a beautiful place. I was on the summer staff at Camp Capers in 1998, but started going there a couple of years before with our Canterbury from SWT (That's a college ministry from what is now Texas State University...in case you missed that.) On one our trips, probably to the college gathering we did each winter, a friend taught me how to fly fish. I was hooked. (haha) It was nice to get back on the Guadalupe and catch a few perch. I threw them all back, they had great meals for us...  I also went for a nice run on the new property that is completely undeveloped. It is beautiful out there. It is more river-front property where they have some trails and take small groups to camp out during the summer. It is certainly a different feeling to be under a canopy of cypress and oaks, than to be in the wide open environment of our coast. I love ...